General and Local.--For dry heat, for warmth alone, hot bags, bottles and
cans are used. Hot flannels are sometimes used for inflamed joints. Make
the flannel very hot, wrap in heated paper or cloth and apply quickly;
cover all with a layer of cotton, wool and oiled muslin.
For neuralgia and earache, salt bags are used.
Fill flannel bags with salt, heat as hot as can be borne, and cover it so
as to retain the heat after it is applied to the ear.
For moist heat.--This is more penetrating and has a more pronounced effect
than dry heat. It also hastens suppuration when it cannot be prevented in
acute inflammation like quinsy, etc.
For local pains, fomentations, stupes and poultices are used. Poultices
are best for deep-seated pain or continuous inflammation.
[632 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
Linseed meal poultice.--Stir the meal slowly and evenly in boiling water;
boil this mixture for several minutes and stir briskly all the time, and
when thick enough it is well beaten with a spoon to remove lumps. If this
is properly done it will be a light smooth paste, just stiff enough to
drop away from the spoon. Use a muslin or coarse cloth and spread the
poultice on this to the depth of one-half inch, leaving one inch space to
turn in. Put vaselin over the surface, thin, and cover with a thin layer
of gauze or thin cloth. Turn the edges over and roll in a towel to keep it
warm and carry to patient. Keep them warm,--one should never be removed
until another is ready to be put on. The skin should always be wiped dry
before another is applied. Oiling the poultice prevents irritation of the
skin and pimples. Cover the poultice loosely if possible with a layer of
cotton-wool and oiled muslin to retain the heat and moisture longer. It
should be changed every three hours at least. Apply hot and never keep on
when it is cold. It should never be used a second time.
Starch Poultice.--This is used in skin diseases for its soothing
properties. Mix the starch first with a little cold water and then add
enough boiling water to make a thick paste, which is then spread on muslin
covered with a layer of gauze.
The Jacket Poultice. For lung affections.--Two layers of thin muslin are
shaped so as to fit closely around the neck and under the arms and come
over the chest and back, low enough to cover the lungs. Three sides are
now closed, and the prepared linseed is poured into the bag and regularly
distributed. Close the open end and then apply. Cover it with wool and
oiled silk and keep in place with safety pins or tapes which are tied
under the arms and over the shoulders. When changing the poultice be
careful not to expose the patient. A cotton-wool jacket should be worn a
few days after the poultice has been discontinued.
Cold is applied either by means of the cold bath or by compresses, pack,
sponging, coils or ice.
Cold Compresses are made by using two or three thicknesses of lint or
linen wrung out of cold water or ice water and applied over the inflamed
part, and changed frequently. A little vaselin may be rubbed on to prevent
the skin from becoming irritated. They are very useful where little weight
can be borne. If iced compresses are used a small block of ice partially
wrapped in flannel is placed in a basin; there should be two compresses,
one of which is kept on ice while the other is on the patient.
Compresses are very good in the early stage of tonsilitis, quinsy, sore
throat, laryngitis and croup.
Ice-bags (India Rubber).--With these, cold can be best applied and with
less trouble. These are made in different shapes. For instance
helmet-shaped to fit the head and long and narrow for the spine.
Crush the ice in small pieces and mix in it a little common salt,--never
fill the rubber bags more than half full; expel the air as much as
possible by pressing before screwing on the top. Always place a layer of
lint, cotton or thin cloth between the skin and the bag. The extreme cold
is not only painful but liable to irritate the skin, and may cause
frost-bites. Its effect should be watched carefully. Sometimes the weight
causes discomfort. In such cases suspend the bag. For the head, fasten a
bandage to the neck of the bag and pin the two ends to the pillow just
high enough to allow the cap (bag) to barely touch the head. Care should
be taken to refill the ice-bags before the ice has melted. At times a
piece of ice is wrapped in moist lint or old linen and passed gently over
the head in order to cool the head.
[NURSING DEPARTMENT 633]
For Appendicitis.--There should be quite a thickness of cloth between the
ice bag and the skin. The latter must not become too cool. In this disease
this bag is a great reliever of the pain and generally used.
Ice Poultices.--In some cases these are better than the ice bag for the
reason that they fit the body better. They are usually made of two parts
of crushed ice to one of linseed meal or bran, together with a small
amount of salt. Make two bags of oiled silk,--one should be smaller than
the other. Close all sides but one, with adhesive plaster. Fill the
smaller bag two-thirds full of ice, close and slip it into the larger bag.
Ice Water Coils.--These can be bought. They can also be made from rubber
tubing. Sew this upon a piece of rubber cloth in circles about one inch
apart for five or six rounds; leave a yard or two of tubing at each end to
be used as a siphon, A large pan of ice water is raised above the patient
into which one weighted end of the tubing is placed, with a funnel
inserted into it, covered with gauze to prevent clogging, while the other
end is laid in a second basin on the floor which receives the water. The
upper pan must be kept filled. This is very good for delirium in brain
fever, etc., when applied to the head and also good for bleeding from the
bowels in typhoid fever. The stream of water can be regulated if necessary
by a stop-cock.
Lotions.--Lotions are medicated moist applications, and may be either hot
or cold.
Counter--Irritants are agents applied externally to produce irritation or
inflammation in order to relieve a diseased condition in an adjacent or
deep-seated part of the body. Mustard foot-bath relieves pain in the head
by drawing the surplus blood away from the head. The mildest mustard
counter-irritant is the mustard poultice. It can be made with one part
mustard to six of linseed meal. Never use boiling water with mustard.
Mustard Poultice.--Use of ground mustard, one-fourth to one-eighth of the
amount of meal used. Make into a paste and stir this into the linseed,
after it has been prepared for the poultices. The white of an egg is used
in this poultice as it may keep the poultice from blistering.
Yeast Poultices.--These stimulate ulcers, gangrene and sloughing
conditions. Mix eight ounces of soft yeast with as much water. Add enough
flour to make a sponge, but not too stiff. It should be kept warm until
fermentation begins; then apply every day. Finely powdered charcoal can
also be added.
[634 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
For Soothing Effect.--Hop bags or bran bags, dipped in hot water, may be
applied, protected and kept in place with a bandage.
Spice Poultice.--This is very good for pain in abdomen in children
especially. Equal parts of ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger,
one-quarter part cayenne pepper, if needed very strong. Place all together
in a flannel bag and spread equally. Wet with alcohol or brandy. When dry,
re-wet. This is a mild warming dressing.
Spice Poultice from a Stanlyton, Va., Mother.--"Take one teaspoonful each
of mustard, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, or as many
ground spices as one has in the kitchen; mix them well in a bowl while
dry, adding boiling water slowly and stir constantly until it is of the
consistency of soft putty; spread between soft thin cloths and apply to
the affected parts as hot as the patient can bear it. When it is cool heat
it again and apply."
Mother's Flour and Water Poultice.--"Make a thick poultice of flour and
water; bake soft and apply hot. Have another ready for change, if
necessary. This is good for any pain."
Poultice of Peach Tree Leaves from our Mother's List.--"Put a handful of
peach leaves in a vessel and let boil well; add enough meal to thicken,
spread between thin muslin cloth and apply to parts affected. This is a
splendid poultice."
Mild Plaster for Children.--"Two teaspoonsful of flour, three teaspoonsful
of mustard, a little fresh lard and a few drops of turpentine, Mix up with
warm water."
Fomentations.--This is the best way to apply moist heat, but it is
troublesome, as they should be changed very frequently, at least every ten
minutes when heat is required. They should never be left on until they are
cold and clammy. Sheets of lamb's wool make the best material. Cut these
layers into sizes required and encase them in a gauze cover over which is
put a layer of oiled silk. Coarse old flannel or an old blanket will do
well. Take two layers of the flannels, dip in the boiling water and wring.
Two should be at hand. Dry the skin first and then put on the flannel. It
should be covered with enough material to keep in the heat and moisture.
Hops, etc., can be put into the water.
Turpentine Stupes.--This is prepared the same way, except turpentine is
added. After the flannel has been wrung out, add from ten to twenty drops
of turpentine, or add two or three teaspoonfuls of turpentine to one pint
of boiling water and put the flannel in it and wring out and apply. Put a
towel over the stupe. This is especially for gas in the bowels.
Mustard Stupe.--Put a tablespoonful of mustard in one pint of hot water.
Make a paste of the mustard before it is put into the hot water, to avoid
forming lumps; never use boiling water. Wring the flannel out after it has
been in this solution and apply to the part.
[NURSING DEPARTMENT 635]
Mustard Plaster.--This is made of different strengths, depending upon the
length of time it is desired to keep it on and the sensitiveness of the
skin.
1. Equal parts of mustard and flour.
2. One of mustard and two of flour.
3. One of mustard and three or four of flour.
White of an egg added makes it better and not so blistering.
A paste is made with warm water and spread between the layers of muslin
and left on no longer than ten minutes. When the skin is red remove the
plaster. This is used when you wish a quick counter-irritation.
Mustard Plaster.--This is made stronger, 1 to 2 to 3 parts meal.
Mustard leaves or Sinapisms may be bought at a drug store. They are no
better than you can make. Use plasters.
Capsicum and Belladonna Plasters.--May be bought. In applying, heat the
back of the plaster slightly; the face of the gauze is pulled off and the
plaster placed where wanted. To remove soak first with alcohol.
Spice plaster.--Mix two teaspoonfuls each of ginger and cloves with a
teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, one tablespoonful of flour, enough brandy
or water to make a paste. Spread this between two layers of muslin.
For Turpentine and Mustard Stupes see above.
Tincture of iodine, chloroform and liniments are also counterirritants,
also castor oil, and pure tartar emetic, and cartharides.
Cupping, Wet and Dry.--This is sometimes used to relieve inflammations of
the eye, lung or kidney, or even muscular pains like lumbago. Wine-glasses
will do as well as any you can buy.
Dry cupping.--Take a piece of wire, wrap a small piece of cotton about the
end, dip this in alcohol, light it and swab the inside of the glass,
remove and apply the glass. The heat causes the air to expand and it is
driven off and the partial vacuum formed is filled by the skin and tissues
over which the glass is placed. The edges of the cup must not be warm
enough to burn the patient. Six or seven cups may be applied at one time
and allowed to remain five minutes, after which they are removed by
pressing the flesh around the edge and inserting the finger there so as to
let in the air.
Linseed meal poultices can be applied afterwards to keep up the work
begun.
Wet cupping.--Scrub the skin with hot water and soap, wash off with a five
per cent (1-20) carbolic acid solution. Make a few cuts over the parts
desired with a clean knife and apply the cup prepared in the way above
directed. Remove the blood and check the bleeding, if necessary, by
sponging. Place a pad on the part and hold this in place by a bandage or
adhesive strap.
Blistered Skin. To dress.--Puncture the lower part with a clean instrument
and catch the fluid on absorbent cotton. Dress it with oxide of zinc
ointment or vaselin on lint or clean linen and strap on. It is best not to
remove the skin from a blister at the first dressing.
[636 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]